# Is this a real myth or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100 "2011-04-04T00:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/1 "2011-04-04T00:43:07Z")
For whatever reason, I stumbled on this clip of a relatively old cartoon called The Wild Thornberries. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4a3ZTSGcs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4a3ZTSGcs) Towards the end of the clip a “native” says that on full moons, river dolphins turn into humans and walk among the people. Is this a real myth (/tall tale/story) that native people of Asia (South America?) really believe or is it one they just made up for the show? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/2 "2011-04-04T02:45:38Z")
There is an animal called a \*boto \*in Portuguese, which is a river dolphin in the Amazon (South America). So that much is factual and consistent with the setting in the cartoon. Apparently there is [some basis in fact](http://www.caobarts.org/culture.cfm) for this myth :dubious:, or rather, there is some basis that such a myth exists, not that the myth is true 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/3 "2011-04-04T02:58:30Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > Is this a real myth (/tall tale/story) that native people of Asia (South America?) really believe or is it one they just made up for the show? It’s a quite genuine legend in Amazonia. From the abstract of this article: [Shameless creatures : An ethnozoology of the Amazon River dolphin](http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=2032103) > [@](#): > > The rural population of Brazilian Amazonia of mixed African, European, and indigenous ancestry possesses a rich corpus of beliefs and practices concerning the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). Some of these dolphins are believed capable of transforming into human beings at night and causing harm to humans on land. See also [Wiki:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boutu) > [@](#): > > In traditional Amazon River folklore, at night, an Amazon river dolphin becomes a handsome young man who seduces girls,[5] impregnates them, and then returns to the river in the morning to become an Amazon river dolphin again. This dolphin shapeshifter is called an encantado. It has been suggested that the myth arose partly because dolphin genitalia bear a resemblance to those of humans. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/4 "2011-04-04T09:20:03Z")
Not that unusual. Isn’t there a swan-girl in the Ring Cycle? There are definitely Scottish legends about seals taking off their skins and being humanoid underneath. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/5 "2011-04-04T10:31:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > There is an animal called a \*boto \*in Portuguese, which is a river dolphin in the Amazon (South America). So that much is factual and consistent with the setting in the cartoon. > > Apparently there is [some basis in fact](http://www.caobarts.org/culture.cfm) for this myth :dubious:, or rather, there is some basis that such a myth exists, not that the myth is true 🙂 My wife is from Amazonia and has told me about the legend of the Boto. He always wears white and always has a hat on (to hide the blowhole). He is very beautiful and can hypnotize unwitting girls. The somewhat sadder truth is that the Boto was usually used to explain unwanted or unintended pregnancies (often due to incest). It’s easier to blame the dolphins. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/6 "2011-04-04T10:43:44Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Not that unusual. Isn’t there a swan-girl in the Ring Cycle? > [@Woody Allen](#): > > Notes for a ballet, “The Spell”: … Suddenly Sigmund hears the flutter of wings, and a group of wild swans flies across the moon … Sigmund is astounded to see that their leader is part swan and part woman – unfortunately, divided lengthwise. She enchants Sigmund, who is careful not to make any poultry jokes. > [@blindboyard](#): > > There are definitely Scottish legends about seals taking off their skins and being humanoid underneath. Do they look like Ted Levine? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/7 "2011-04-05T05:07:09Z")
The OP brought to mind this movie from 1986: [Where the River Runs Black](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092205/) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-real-myth-or-not/577100/9 "2011-04-05T08:48:17Z")
> [@amendajoe5555](#): > > its really orignal from the river of AMIZON.!! and i dont think from this video it proffs that its a fake or not real do u think? I’m assuming English is not your first language. The video is from a kid’s cartoon, and often these aren’t too worried about facts. _The Wild Thornberries_ is an exception, in that, while not explicitly an educational show, they did strive to present factual information in Nigel’s segments.